G. E. M. Anscombe

Anscombe’s relation to the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, and to Thomism, is complex. She first read Aquinas while a student at Oxford, finding herself looking to his arguments about a first cause, and also at what he says about the natural law. Later it was again to his writings on causality, action and ethics that she returned. Yet while one can often discern the influence of Aquinas on her thinking, it is rarely made explicit and only very occasionally did she ever write directly about Aquinas. More broadly, her outlook on human nature also owes something to Augustine and it would be misleading to describe her as a Thomist (though she sometimes been grouped along with her husband Peter Geach and her student Anthony Kenny as an “analytical thomist”).

Elizabeth Anscombe was a formidable and independently minded thinker whose work needs to be better understood if it is to have the influence within and beyond academic philosophy that it deserves, and which could be hoped to enhance the understanding of fundamental issues about human life and conduct. The seminar will explore aspects of Anscombe’s work in the areas of value theory, ethics, and norm-governed practice. It will relate these to the work of some of her contemporaries and to the thought of Aquinas. The topics to be focused on are:

• Monday: Modern Moral Philosophy


• Tuesday: Intentional and Voluntary Action


• Wednesday: Reasoning about Ends


• Thursday: Moral and Political Authority


• Friday: Creating and Destroying Life

Enrollment is open to graduate students in philosophy and related disciplines (including students who will be entering a graduate program in the Fall). The sessions of the seminar begin Monday morning, August 18th and ends the afternoon of Friday, August 22nd.

Any student interested in attending should submit by May 1st, 2008:

1. Undergraduate and graduate transcripts (unofficial transcripts issued by the applicant’s department are acceptable)
   


2. A résumé
   


3. A statement of purpose, which includes the applicant’s brief philosophical biography and states why he or she wishes to attend the seminar.
   


4. A recent philosophy term paper (no more than twenty-five [25] pages)
   


5. One letter of recommendation from a philosophy professor, submitted by the writer directly to the Witherspoon Institute.

Transcripts should be sent via postal mail to the Witherspoon Institute at:

All other materials should be sent electronically to ThomisticSeminar(at)gmail(dot)com. Applicants will be notified of whether or not they have been admitted to the seminar by May 15th, 2008.

The cost for each student participant will be $400 (although financial aid will be available for those who demonstrate need), which will cover housing and meal fees. Most philosophy departments provide some funds for graduate students to travel in order to present papers; because admission to the seminar is competitive, each admitted student will be expected to ask his home department to sponsor his participation, just as though he had been selected to present a paper at a conference.

Updated February 4, 2008

Posted January 17, 2008